Harvey Weinstein is a symptom, but what is the deeper problem?

Alice Stewart: This is not about politics, it’s about an alleged sexual predator

When you campaign and write books claiming to be a protector of women, it should take no time for you to condemn the despicable actions of movie mogul and Democratic donor Harvey Weinstein. For some reason, it took former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama five days to tell the world they were disgusted by the allegations against Weinstein. What should have been an instant rebuke took nearly a week of public pressure to come forth.

It just so happens this alleged sexual predator has been hiding in plain sight in Hollywood and Washington for decades and has donated millions of dollars to Democratic candidates over the years. This includes Clinton and Obama. No word on whether they will return the money (though the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has said it will give its donations to women’s rights organizations.)

At the end of the day though this is not about politics. This is about a man whose behavior was demeaning and damaging to countless women. Isolated incidents of sexual abuse happen — what we have here is a trend enabled by people looking the other way for fear of retribution.

The culture of complicity cannot continue. Let’s hear these women out, let’s support their courage, and let’s hold this man accountable for his actions.

Alice Stewart is a CNN political commentator and former communications director for Ted Cruz’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Roxanne Jones: Women who wait to report abuse and harassment aren’t heroes

It’s become the vogue in Hollywood for women to wait decades before speaking out about past sexual assaults or harassment they’ve faced over their career by powerful men. And while it’s nice that these women are finally telling their painful stories publicly, I don’t think they are heroes, or even especially courageous.

Too harsh you say? Not at all. For me, settling for a huge financial settlement from your employer, writing a book or even worse — staying silent when confronted by a predator at work — is the weakest move we can make as women who profess to want full equality and respect. And while it may keep you safe for a moment or gainfully employed, your silence puts every other woman at risk for harassment, or much worse.

Workplace harassment isn’t just a Hollywood problem. Working women face these predators every day. I’ve been there myself as a young woman on a fast-track career, who was harassed and groped by a bully at work. Many advised me to stay quiet. Instead, that week I reported the incident not just to human resources but to the head of the company. And yes, I was terrified that I’d ruin my career. I didn’t, as far as I know.

Whether it’s Weinstein’s accusers, the scores of women who accused Bill Cosby, or even top anchors such as Gretchen Carlson who won a $20 million suit after Fox CEO Roger Ailes allegedly harassed her at work — it’s hard for me to find much reason to hope that we are any closer to full equality using this passive-aggressive strategy to gain equal rights.

Let’s stop hiding our pain in the closet hoping it will go away. Hoping men will accept us if we stay pretty, silent and compliant. Each of us finding our voice is the only path to true empowerment.

Roxanne Jones, a founding editor of ESPN Magazine and former vice president at ESPN, has been a producer, reporter and editor at the New York Daily News and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Jones is co-author of “Say it Loud: An Illustrated History of the Black Athlete.” She talks politics, sports and culture weekly on Philadelphia’s 900AM-WURD.

Porochista Khakpour: Women in America are second-class citizens at best, and this is unacceptable

I’m sad to say I’ve been aware of gender inequities since I was a young child, a refugee leaving Iran. It was clear that with the mandatory veil the new regime in Iran had decided that women were not worthy of choice. One would have hoped that traveling to the West and relocating to America would have meant an end to all that, but the sexism I experienced in the United States was consistent and with no end in sight — in the classroom by pupils and teachers, in the workplace by colleagues and bosses, everywhere.

I’ve been raped, assaulted or sexually harassed so many times in my life. I now think with the Trump administration we are further than ever from resolving all this. Our greatest impediment is a President who has proudly harassed and allegedly sexually assaulted numerous women. We need to set ourselves apart from this and work harder than ever to make this place safer for the generations to come. Women in this supposedly greatest nation in the world are currently second-class citizens at best, and we need to let it be known vocally this is unacceptable.

Porochista Khakpour is the author of the novels “Sons and Other Flammable Objects” and “The Last Illusion” and the forthcoming memoir, “Sick.”

Leslie Morgan Steiner: The allegations make me sad but not surprised

The recent sexual assault allegations about Harvey Weinstein saddened, but did not shock me. Not because I’m an actress he allegedly assaulted or harassed, which I am not. But because, like most women, I know firsthand that the power men wield in our society routinely emboldens and corrupts them. Why do men in our society assault and abuse women? Because they can. My first husband, an Ivy League graduate and Wall Street trader, beat me and held loaded guns to my head, rather than face his own childhood trauma of abuse, simply because he could. In my view, a powerful man who does not use his leverage to abuse women is the exception, not the rule.

Our justice system is one in which (according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) fewer than 10% of men accused of rape or abuse ever spend a day in jail. For years, the rumors and accusations about Weinstein were not taken seriously enough or widely exposed. This conspiracy of silence allowed him to continue to destroy women’s self-esteem and their lives with impunity. No matter your politics or views on Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Donald Trump, or Roger Ailes — or even a less powerful man such as the Stanford rapist Brock Turner — it’s important to step back and look at what some American men do when granted power. Think about it long and hard, because behavior like this needs to change, and we’re the ones to change it. Now.

Leslie Morgan Steiner is the author of the best-selling memoir, Crazy Love, and the TedTalk “Why Do Victims Stay?” She lives in Washington, DC.